I don't think Wales have looked as impressive either, but what we're doing these days is outlasting the other team which I think is is terrific. I wouldn't be surprised if Wales came out of the blocks on fire and hammered France for 10-15 minutes but get little for their efforts, France settle down and maybe take the lead themselves for the next 30-40 minutes, and then as they get tired Wales will claw back the lead and win.

We nearly did that in our World Cup match, but at least our kicking seems to be better than it was in that tournament, and hopefully there won't be any dangerous tackles, accidental or not...

Indeed. Even with a cob in one hand and a Boddingtons in the other, I'd still be better than Monsieur Rolland.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Emyr Thy King

quote:

ORIGINAL: Hood_Man

My celtic blood is telling me to root for France, but my brain is telling me to root for England to help Wales' chances next week!

It's too much!

The only team Wales need help from is themselves. As long as they off-load in the tackle, ruck their arses off at the brealdown, don't give away stupid penalties, scrummage effectively, straighten their line-outs and not kick away possession. Then it should be a matter of letting Roberts and Fist of the North Star do their jobs. Wales have a score to settle anyway. Should be good.

Basically this Northy has been blistering - surely player of the tournament.

< Message edited by Ref -- 14/3/2012 4:25:22 PM >

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It’s great to be winning but I would like to be playing a bit better with less mistakes, less kicking, more handling and in fact everything you point out above.

I agree, Wales need to bring back that finesse to their game they showed in the World Cup. Still, we're on course for a grandslam and that's monumental. Great teams csn play badly and yet still win. If Wales can just better their form then maybe this will be the year we'll scalp one of the unholy trinity of rugby.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Ref

quote:

ORIGINAL: Emyr Thy King

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ORIGINAL: Ref

Woohoo!! Get in England. Even won with Alain Rolland reffing!

That's a relief, you didn't have to step in and take over!

Indeed. Even with a cob in one hand and a Boddingtons in the other, I'd still be better than Monsieur Rolland.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Emyr Thy King

quote:

ORIGINAL: Hood_Man

My celtic blood is telling me to root for France, but my brain is telling me to root for England to help Wales' chances next week!

It's too much!

The only team Wales need help from is themselves. As long as they off-load in the tackle, ruck their arses off at the brealdown, don't give away stupid penalties, scrummage effectively, straighten their line-outs and not kick away possession. Then it should be a matter of letting Roberts and Fist of the North Star do their jobs. Wales have a score to settle anyway. Should be good.

Basically this Northy has been blistering - surely player of the tournament.

Let it be know that no-one can be as bad as Monsieur Allan Rolland:

Desperate Dan (Roberts) and Fist of the North Star have been our star players. I think Toby Faletau has been very good and he's certainly one of our most creative forwards.

I think the problem is Wales couldn't adapt to the defensive screen that Italy put up and we had a hard time just chipping away at that defense. We'll need to be more dynamic against France. Get plenty of crashball, clear the rucks, fast servicing out to the backs and let them run through the French. Phillips can be like an OAP digging for crumbs in a biscuit tin sometimes, but he can 'turn it on' when he needs to do so.

By the way Ref, I'm sure your reffing would be exemplary. With cob and Boddington's at hand! (Because then you have no free hand to bring a whistle to your mouth) .

Desperate Dan (Roberts) and Fist of the North Star have been our star players. I think Toby Faletau has been very good and he's certainly one of our most creative forwards.

I think the problem is Wales couldn't adapt to the defensive screen that Italy put up and we had a hard time just chipping away at that defense. We'll need to be more dynamic against France. Get plenty of crashball, clear the rucks, fast servicing out to the backs and let them run through the French. Phillips can be like an OAP digging for crumbs in a biscuit tin sometimes, but he can 'turn it on' when he needs to do so.

By the way Ref, I'm sure your reffing would be exemplary. With cob and Boddington's at hand! (Because then you have no free hand to bring a whistle to your mouth) .

Nicely done, Emyr- nicely done.

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Well done boys, a deserved grand slam. It wasn't the champagne rugby or try haul we witnessed in 05 and 08, but the team did what it needed to do to close out every game for the win - something that has annoyingly not been the case the last few seasons. You can't deny the defensive efforts this year though - only 3 tries conceded in the tournament and none in the last 3 games. Shaun Edwards has got to be happy with that!

So obviously being Welsh I'm extremely chuffed to have won another Grand Slam and I'm very proud of the players. It wasn't as above, Champagne Rugby but it was clinical and there was some outstanding defending and always potential for a potent attack. I do believe we got progressively worse through the tournament but I also think we came up against teams playing at their best in this year's competition.

Overall I had some fab days but I really fucking hate some people and their blind, pig headed verging on racist and disgusting views when their team doesn't win, I also dislike certain areas of the press. Still it's a great game and I really love Six Nations Rugby, probably more than World Cup Rugby.

Overall I had some fab days but I really fucking hate some people and their blind, pig headed verging on racist and disgusting views when their team doesn't win, I also dislike certain areas of the press. Still it's a great game and I really love Six Nations Rugby, probably more than World Cup Rugby.

Where was this, Impy? I can understand all too well unfortunately, as being half-welsh I get it all at work.

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Overall I had some fab days but I really fucking hate some people and their blind, pig headed verging on racist and disgusting views when their team doesn't win, I also dislike certain areas of the press. Still it's a great game and I really love Six Nations Rugby, probably more than World Cup Rugby.

Where was this, Impy? I can understand all too well unfortunately, as being half-welsh I get it all at work.

Just in general areas of the internet that I know better than to visit, it is one of the few things I foolishly allow to get to me. I've never had a bad experience at a game or in the surrounding pubs and bars though, most Rugby fans are brilliant.

Overall I had some fab days but I really fucking hate some people and their blind, pig headed verging on racist and disgusting views when their team doesn't win, I also dislike certain areas of the press. Still it's a great game and I really love Six Nations Rugby, probably more than World Cup Rugby.

Where was this, Impy? I can understand all too well unfortunately, as being half-welsh I get it all at work.

Just in general areas of the internet that I know better than to visit, it is one of the few things I foolishly allow to get to me. I've never had a bad experience at a game or in the surrounding pubs and bars though, most Rugby fans are brilliant. [:)]

Aye, that's true enough

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He had so much going for him, and then he became more obsessed with fame rather than the Rugby. What a doughnut!

I was on a flight back from Glasgow t'other week, it took like 50mins - how much did he exactly consume in that time (I understand he already had a few), and why didn't the staff refuse him if he was wasted? Hell, they could've not allowed him on board if they wanted to. Not making excuses for him here, but this whole flight thing could have easily been avoided. I wonder if Cardiff were just waiting for a situation like this, they certainly didn't hesitate with their decision.

And with 2 mins left we had possession and the lead. Just keep ball in hand and run down the clock, why the feck they kicked it back to the Aussies I'll never know. You just know the ref was gonna give them a chance to win the game after that, it's inevitable when u play the southern hem teams on their patch, they always get a chance for one last kick or try.

As howley said, poor game managent at crucial times and shocking line out in the first half nullified any chance of putting more points on the board after the first try. Disappointing defeat at the death, but they'll learn from this. Annoying thing is, I thought they already knew how to close games out after the 6 nations. Bit of a backward step I'm afraid. And I don't want to point my finger at specific players but Priestland is surely on borrowed time, they dropped him from kicking duties, his kicking out of hand is poor and his decisions making in these tests has been shocking. I'd bring on Hook for next week, they need a smarter no.10 at the moment and Hook is by far the better choice IMO.

Only until Monday though probably, when England reclaim it after their draw with SA.

Back to the game, it was obviously Wales' for the taking but the team yet again made too many errors at crucial points in the game: a lost line out, a kick out on the full, not catching a restart, messing up a driving maul 5m from their try line [:@. It really was schoolboy error stuf and IMO the difference between the teams. The Aussies, though not offering a great deal in the last 2 games, we're far more clinical and kept the error rate low. Annoyingly, Wales couldn't cut these errors out even after 3 games - something that Gatland and co. will surely have to work on before these teams meet again in the Autumn internationals.

Only until Monday though probably, when England reclaim it after their draw with SA.

Back to the game, it was obviously Wales' for the taking but the team yet again made too many errors at crucial points in the game: a lost line out, a kick out on the full, not catching a restart, messing up a driving maul 5m from their try line [:@. It really was schoolboy error stuff and IMO the difference between the teams. The Aussies, though not offering a great deal in the last 2 games, we're far more clinical and kept the error rate low. Annoyingly, Wales couldn't cut these errors out even after 3 games - something that Gatland and co. will surely have to work on before these teams meet again in the Autumn internationals.

Yep bloody English...

This was an incredibly frustrating Series in truth Wales could have won all three and should have had the final two but again we failed when the time came. I agree with all your points, the schoolboy errors were just that and it was these poor decisions/mistakes that made me less disappointed, more pissed off with the boys. I like to believe they will work on it because if we can cut them out we have such an opportunity to really move forward as a team.

Totally. The boys just didn't look up for it; combine that with little to no creative spark and influential players leaving the field early and the writing was on the cards. Argentina, although with plenty of possession, were offering very little for most of the game - and if we bothered to show up, this should've been a comfortable victory with the talent on show. Very disappointing. Don't know what Howley's teamtalks have been like, but I suspect the boys are wishing Gatland never took that Lion's job. Not a good record under his temporary leadership is it?

So the previous 18 months just didn’t happen then? Looks like Howley will be 0/8 by the end of the autumn.

We have created nothing during these last few games. Nothing.

Incredibly frustrating once again. It's hard to put a finger on why world cup semi finalists and Grand Slam champs can go from heroes to zeros in 6 months. Couple of injuries to key players, fair enough; some players struggling with club form, it happens. But these issues shouldn't amount to a team wide catastrophic fall from grace.

Looking at the players body language over the last 2 games it's like there's no motivation, no urgency, and this is where it really gets to me, no passion. The latter shouldn't have to come from the training field - it should be there when you pull on that red jersey and represent your country.

There must be some catalyst within the set up that's effected the team recently, good teams don't just become terrible overnight, this is essentially the same team that achieved so much lately. The major difference may be Gatland's diminished involvement in recent months, which has led to Howley's temporary appointment. And if this is indeed the catalyst, all I can say is god help us next year when Gatland takes up the Lions post full time. I honestly feel that Howley needs to step aside for the 6 nations, as it's obvious he's having very little effect in the dressing room. Maybe Gatland taking the reins back for the next 2 internationals may get the team firing, but I feel the damage is done now, and it'll be too little too late to save a whitewash for this series.